AN: I finally finished this prompt and it ended up being 29 pages, so there will be a couple more updates after this. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Elizabeth shut the door softly behind her as she left. Henry stood and pushed the chair back before laying down on his bed. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "What the hell just happened?" he asked himself. Henry wasn't sure, but he felt he was to blame. He rolled over and let the tears fall, both for his grandma and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth walked down the sidewalk and almost made it past the driveway leading to the garage, when she heard Patrick call out. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"I'm taking a drive." Elizabeth answered, her voice wavering just the slightest. She was too angry to be talking to Patrick.

He came out of the garage and starting walking toward the street. "A girl like you has no business driving that car around Pittsburgh. You get in the wrong neighborhood and it won't end well," he said.

"And how exactly do you define a girl like me?" she asked spinning around and walking back toward him.

Patrick seemed a little taken aback by her boldness. "I meant nice looking white girl in a high dollar car." His tone softened. "When you leave, take a right at the first light and continue straight. It'll take you down by the mall. You just don't want to end up in certain neighborhoods. That's all."

"That better be all," she muttered, walking to the car. She got in and drove away, hoping she could make it out of sight before her tears made seeing too difficult.

Half an hour later, she sat in a movie theater parking lot with a large tub of buttered popcorn in her lap. The guy in the ticket booth at the theater had given her an odd look when she walked in and strolled past him to get in the concession line. As soon as she got her popcorn, she walked back out. Now, she was munching her popcorn mindlessly as she thought about her dad.

The BMW was her dad's dream car. He'd been saving for it as long as she could remember. Then he got a big bonus from his job as a grocery store manager and because her uncle was a mechanic and knew a guy who wanted to sell, it was finally enough to buy what he wanted. Elizabeth smiled as she remembered how happy he was when he got home. He made everyone come out and ride around the block with him. She chuckled to herself as she thought about how she and her brother, Will, had teased him about how silly it was to drive around the block. He loved this car. He only had it for a couple weeks when they had the accident and were killed.

After the accident, the BMW was put into storage. Grandpa had taught her to drive his car and then she went to boarding school and didn't need a car, but it had been offered to her when she headed to UVA for her sophomore year. They only lived an hour away, but having a car on campus would be nice. Elizabeth wasn't sure about it until she sat behind the steering wheel. She swore she could smell him and she could feel his joy all over again. Will was adamantly opposed to being near the car at all, so she took it. Sitting where her father sat, made her feel a little closer to him.

"Daddy, what am I going to do?" she murmured. She still just couldn't grasp the idea that Henry would believe she was the kind of person to be sleeping around with anyone and everyone.

She closed her eyes and calmed down, then it came to her. "Go back, tell him why it made you so upset, listen to him and then forgive him." She swore she caught a hint of her father's aftershave and smiled. Putting the popcorn tub in the passenger seat, she backed the car up and headed toward the McCord house.

After pulling himself back together, Henry went to sit on the front steps and wait for Elizabeth. As afternoon fell into evening, it got colder, but Henry was numb on the inside, so the cold didn't bother him much. He didn't even notice Patrick sitting down next to him. "Your girl is a deal," Patrick said.

Henry shook his head, emerging from his thoughts. "What?" he asked.

"I said your girl is a deal."

"Why do you say that?" Henry asked.

"She doesn't back down from an argument, and doesn't mind starting one either."

"That's true," Henry said.

"She come from money?" he asked.

"Why does it matter?" Henry wanted to know. "She's the same person regardless."

"People with money just think differently than us. It doesn't make them bad exactly, just when you don't have to think about money, you have a different attitude."

"Elizabeth herself has some money from her parents' estate. Her parents really didn't have much in the way of day to day cash, but had good insurance. She has the car because it was her dad's and it was given to her when he died. Don't mess with the car. It's sentimental." Patrick nodded.

"You managed to piss her off?" Patrick asked.

"Yep."

"That was stupid."

"Yep."

"Is she coming back?"

"I hope so."

"You better get good at gravelling real quick if you want to keep her around." Henry nodded. He wasn't used to his dad being this nice or this conversational, especially about someone he was dating. "I think she's coming down the road." Patrick stood and said, "Good luck."

With most of the friends and extended family gone, Elizabeth was able to pull up in front of the house. As she put the car in park, Henry tapped on the window. She rolled it down. "May I?" he asked, gesturing toward the passenger seat.

She nodded and he opened the door. "I've been replaced already?" He pointed at the popcorn tub in the passenger seat. She laughed in spite of herself.

"We have an understanding, popcorn and I." She smiled slightly, taking the tub, meeting his gaze as he sat opposite her.

"Look," they said simultaneously.

Elizabeth gestured to Henry. "Go first."

"Okay. I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I shouldn't have been so judgmental in the first place and then when we started going out, I should've known better. In my heart, I really did know better, I swear. My brain just thought it was protecting itself by thinking the worst, so when you ditched me for someone better, I could have some kind of, I don't know, reason it happened. That sounds pretty dumb, I know, but it's all I got. I really am sorry."

"I may have overreacted. I promised myself when my parents died that I would live each day to the fullest and make sure I was having a good time. I didn't necessarily take into account of what that might appear to be to others. It is wrong to judge like that, but I know people do it and I catch myself doing the same kind of thing sometimes. If you were thinking about what you know about your sister, it seems like a reasonable assumption. I just read it as an attack on me as a person, and it hurts that you would think of me like that. But, I talked to my dad and he told me I need to forgive you."

"I like your dad a lot," Henry said, making Elizabeth laugh. "Come on, let's go in." They walked hand in hand up the sidewalk. Before they stepped inside, Henry asked, "Exactly what did you say to my dad? He was kinder to me a few minutes ago than he's been most of my life."

"Nothing important," she said, shrugging.

In the next two days that passed, Elizabeth didn't think she had ever seen so much food in one place. Casseroles and deli trays littered every flat surface of the downstairs. The sun room was filled with food and the windows opened to keep it cool. It was a constant buffet and there was a constant stream of people filing through to eat the older items before new arrived. A constant string of people, eating, drinking and being loud.

The morning of the visitation, Elizabeth sat cross legged on the end of Henry's bed, while Henry finished getting dressed. "I think this may be the first moment of quiet since I walked in this house," she said, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Don't get used to it. Maureen and Erin aren't up yet. When they get up the volume level doubles." Elizabeth laughed at that. She hadn't known them long, but they were both loud and talked a lot. Henry groaned and adjusted his tie for the third time.

"Here. Let me do it," Elizabeth said, pulling herself off the bed to stand in front of him. She untangled it and started over. She flipped, twisted and laced the end through and pulled it snug. "There you go," she said, placing her hand on his chest.

"Elizabeth," Henry started, but then stopped, his mouth still open like words should be coming out but they were not. She looked up at him and the look he gave her sent shivers up her spine.

No one had ever looked at her the way that Henry was looking at her. She blushed and a wave of heat rolled across her body. "Henry?" she asked, surprised that she found herself a little breathless.

Henry stood looking down at Elizabeth, transfixed by the woman in front of him. He'd almost blurted out "I love you," but somehow managed to stop those words and instead replaced them with this smouldering silence. He wanted to kiss her, really kiss her, not the chaste kisses they'd shared up to this point. He wasn't sure how that would be received, especially since their argument a couple days prior. He heard her say his name and it brought his attention fully back to her. Her flushed cheeks, full red lips, the wanting in her eyes.

It was more than he could take. He brushed his fingers along her hairline, pushing her hair back before tilting her head back and their lips met. It was gentle at first, like all of their kisses. He wrapped his lips around her upper lip sucking it before he drug his tongue across it. Her one hand, still on his chest, clutched his tie holding him in place, the other hand wrapped around his waist. She parted her lips inviting him in.

Henry snaked his arm around her back, pressing her to his body. He explored her mouth and she did the same. Finally breaking apart, Elizabeth looked up at him. "We should do that again sometime."

"Yeah. I'm going to go with sooner than later." He placed both hands on her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thanks for fixing my tie. You should probably get changed."

"Yeah, I should. She looked at Henry for a while longer before she finally dropped her arms and walked out of the room wondering if she would continue to feel this way now that Henry kissed her. She hoped so.

They walked hand in hand into the funeral home bringing up the tail end of a long line of relatives. A thought had passed through Elizabeth's mind a couple of times over the past three days and she had dismissed it each time, but crossing the threshold into the building, she halted, unable to make herself take another step.

Henry had wondered if Elizabeth would be okay going to the visitation and funeral, but she hadn't indicated otherwise. He didn't want to make an issue where there wasn't one, but he knew immediately what was happening when she froze just inside the door, almost pulling him backwards when he continued to walk and she did not.

Offering a silent thank you that they were the last ones to come in, Henry physically turned Elizabeth around and pushed her out the door. He shuffled her to a bench along the front walk and sat down beside her. "Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"I thought it would be okay. Really I did." She shook her head. "This needs to be about you, not me. I'll be fine." She stood and smoothed the wrinkles out of her solid black dress. Henry took her hand and pulled her back to the bench.

"Please don't do that Elizabeth," Henry said, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm not going to be fine if you aren't." He leaned in and pulled her closer to him, his arm wrapped around her, underneath her wool peacoat.

"I haven't been in a funeral home since my parents died," Elizabeth said, suddenly sounding defeated. "I didn't think it would be a big deal. But it's the smell. The over flowery, potpourri-y, smell that covers death. It smells exactly the same. But, it's not the same. I need to remember that." She took two deep breaths. "Let's go. People will be looking for you." She stood once again and this time Henry didn't stop her.

"I'll be right here, right beside you." Henry said, taking her hand again. They walked through the door once again and this time Elizabeth wasn't caught off guard. She forced herself to keep walking, signed the guest book at the doorway and entered the parlor. It was only family members currently, but there was still a fairly large group that had accumulated. People were milling about and the noise level, even when they were trying to be quiet was overwhelming. There was one person obviously missing and Henry seemed to notice at the same time because he leaned over and whispered, "Do you see Mom?" Elizabeth shook her head.

"I'll go look for her," Elizabeth said, letting go of Henry's hand, retreating out the side door of the parlor and taking the box of tissues that lay on the table in the doorway. Down a quiet side hall, she found the bathroom, and pushed the door open quietly and found Jo sitting in a recliner in the sitting area weeping softly.

Seeing Elizabeth, Jo immediately sat straighter and tried to wipe her eyes. Elizabeth just shook her head and sat down beside her, offering her the box of tissues. "It's alright. I don't mind. Losing your mom sucks, You've spent the last three days entertaining everyone else. You need a little down time before you tackle this." She took Jo's hand. "If you don't take it now, you'll spend the next two days trying to hold it all together and you won't remember anything that was said or done and you'll regret that." Jo nodded her understanding. "Would you like some company?"

"Honestly, I think I would like to be by myself for a while. I haven't had much alone time."

Elizabeth stood. "Then I'll make sure no one comes in here. Take all the time you need." She started to step to the door when Jo caught her hand.

"Thank you Elizabeth," she said. Elizabeth returned the watery smile and slipped out the door and positioned herself away from the door, but close enough to stop anyone that tried to go in..

Ten minutes or so had passed, when Henry ducked into the hallway, looking worried. "I can't find her."

Elizabeth nodded. "I did. She's taking some time before all of this happens." She gestured to the larger room. "She'll be back when she's ready."

Patrick stuck his head out into the hallway as well. "Jo?" he called.

Elizabeth stepped in front of him. "She's busy at the moment. She'll be back in shortly."

"We're about to start," Patrick said impatiently.

"You'll start when your wife returns." Patrick looked at her like he was ready to argue. "Listen to me. There's not a big rush. Grandma's already dead. Now, you can go back in there and look like the caring husband you are and tell everyone to cool their jets." She turned Patrick around to face the room and sent him off. Patrick glanced over his shoulder at Henry, who just shrugged. Patrick went ahead and whispered something to the priest, who shrugged himself and then sat back down.

It was only another couple minutes when Jo stepped out. Elizabeth took one look at her and ushered her back into the bathroom, pulling concealer, eyeliner and mascara out of her purse and tossing them on the counter. "At some point, some brilliant relative will say some something dumb about getting family pictures since everyone is here and you don't want to look like shit even if you happen to feel that way." Elizabeth quickly applied concealer to hide Jo's dark circles and expertly applied eyeliner and handed her the tube of mascara. "I don't do other people's mascara very well. You don't want to end up looking like a raccoon." Jo smirked and took the tube. She applied it and turned to look at Elizabeth. "Very nice. You look way better than I'm sure you feel, which is the goal."

Jo looked his son's girlfriend up and down. This person she only met a few days ago had pretty much pegged how she felt and had given her just what she needed. Jo sure hoped Henry knew what a treasure he landed, because that's what Elizabeth was. She reached out and gave Elizabeth a hug. "Thanks," she said, and stepped over and pulled the door open, walking tall into the parlor, where she took her place in the front next to Patrick and the priest stood and began the prayer service.

Henry stood with Elizabeth in the doorway. He whispered, "What you did back there was pretty amazing."

"Not amazing at all," she whispered back. "I just wish there had been someone to do something like that for me I needed it. I don't think anyone knew what to do with me though." She laughed softly. "Total wreck doesn't even begin to describe it."

Henry pulled her back against him and wrapped his arm around her middle, and whispered in her ear. "You are amazing and if I ever doubted your ability to handle my father, I am sorry. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone shut him down the way you did and you were much more polite than anyone else would have been." He pecked her cheek. They listened to the rest of the service. At the end, several family members started the Rosary. Elizabeth knew the basic idea behind saying a Rosary, but she'd never heard it before. It sounded odd to her at first, but soon the cadence of the words took on a life of their own. Henry's own low, soothing baritone fell in with the others and she lay her head back on his chest surrounding herself with the reverberation of his voice.

Henry listened to the priest talk about his grandmother. He knew her well and told several stories, a couple of which he hadn't heard. He finished with a prayer and an aunt and a couple cousins started the Rosary. Henry looked around the room as everyone joined in. He could only identify a couple people that weren't Catholic besides Elizabeth. He was going to offer to let her leave if she was uncomfortable, but she seemed to relax against him. He joined in with the others and toward the end, she hooked her fingers into his and pulled them to her mouth kissing them. He hugged her a little tighter.

Afterwards, everyone was milling around and some cousin made an announcement that she wanted to take pictures while everyone was in the same place. Most people gave the woman an odd look, but Jo McCord burst out laughing and proclaimed that it was a fabulous idea. She shot a look at Elizabeth, who just raised her eyebrows and smiled.